This invention relates to a pacifier for newborn babies and, more particularly, to a pacifier which avoids and helps prevent blockage of a newborn's nose when the newborn is lying unattended.
Most, if not all, commercially available pacifiers are designed for the average baby; they have a relatively large nipple attached to a safety shield that prevents the baby from swallowing the pacifier. The safety shield is a substantially disk-shaped object that may be curved along one edge to fit under the baby's nose. Such a pacifier typically has a ring-type holder attached to the safety shield opposite the nipple. See for example, Muller, U.S. Pat. No. 2,520,773; Rountree, U.S. Pat. No. 3,129,709; Guenther, U.S. Pat. No. 1,287,295; and Borchers, U.S. Pat. No. 1,372,004.
Conventional pacifiers are not designed to overcome certain problems of newborn babies, those infants aged about six weeks or less. For example, newborns do not have sufficient muscle development to control the positions of their heads. As a result, newborns can suffocate while lying in bed because their nose or air passages become blocked by a mattress, pillow or blanket. In addition, newborns have smaller mouths, making it difficult for them to retain a relatively large nipple in their mouths. In contrast to conventional pacifiers, the present invention is designed to overcome these and other problems.